


A Kinder World

by LikeABulletThroughAFlockOfDoves



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Car Accident, Hospital, Kaneki gets hurt, M/M, im sorry, nurse!Hide
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-24
Updated: 2016-03-08
Packaged: 2018-05-23 00:58:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6099619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LikeABulletThroughAFlockOfDoves/pseuds/LikeABulletThroughAFlockOfDoves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Kaneki is in a bad car accident, how long will it take him to recover?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Frosty Winter Days

The white haired boy sighed heavily, stretching his arms and turning back to the empty word document facing him from his laptop's bright screen. It wasn't usually this difficult. He was always reading books, so why couldn't he write a review?

Deciding he'd been there for too long - the librarian was giving him funny looks - he shut the laptop and tucked it into his satchel, walking out of the building into the still winter air. He shivered, wondering why on earth he'd left his coat at his dorm. He looked around for a moment, deciding what to do next.

A light dusting of frost lingered in the shadows, some of the raindrops from last night's storm having frozen on the tips of the grass. The sight was obscured very slightly by his breath, condensing in the air and making a fine mist around the boy's pretty face. He shook white hair out of his eyes, placing his glasses back into his satchel's outer pocket.

His usually bookworm-ish appearance had recently disappeared somewhat due to his hair dye and tattoo. He'd managed to shock most of those who knew him, making the dramatic change over one weekend not long after his nineteenth birthday. But he felt the stencil lined centipede crawling over his torso was something that suited him more now than his... Old self. And his friends, few though they were, agreed.

 

"Kaneki!!" He was wrenched from his thoughts by the sight of his friend walking towards him and upon seeing her angry expression, Kaneki groaned.

"Hello, Touka-chan, is everything alright?" He asked cautiously and somewhat awkwardly, and the blue haired girl continued to scowl. She huffed, glaring around at nothing.

"That jerk Nishiki spilt coffee _all over my bag and my essay_ , which I spent probably ten million hours on, and now I've got to go back and get my back up." She looked ready to kill her coworker. Kaneki smiled weakly.

"I'll come with you, I've gotta get my coat, alright?" Touka nodded, still looking murderous. She turned around, walking towards the dorms without checking to see if he was following. Kaneki skittered along to walk beside her. They walked along, making idle small talk that was short lived and barely able to curb the navy haired girl's anger.

The streets were almost empty, with anyone who could hiding from the chilly winter air in the cosy warmth of their homes. Kaneki could tell ice would soon be setting in on the city roads, as he watched many people slip as they passed. He and Touka were lucky, able to avoid any public embarrassment which would only fuel the girl's burning anger.

 

  
They approached a large junction, waiting for the green light to let them cross. Kaneki watched the flashing billboards, wondering how people could take in that much information in about two seconds before the display changed. He pulled up the neck of his shirt, hoping to block at least a tiny amount of the cold currently assaulting him. Looking back to the road, he saw the light had turned, and that Touka was already halfway across. He stumbled across, trying to catch up with the crowd of pedestrians across the wide road.

And then he heard it.

The screech of tires that he'd heard all too often. The revving engine of a car driven by someone seemingly unable to care for anyone's safety. He'd had plenty of close calls with speeding cars before, but none that made time slow down like this, none that made his heart feel as though it could rip free of his chest and run to save itself. He turned, watching the car's headlights flash as it skidded on the slippy road, hurtling towards his fragile body and he heard Touka shouting and-

Everything blacked out.


	2. Waking Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the crash...

  
The beeping was annoying. That was the first thing the white haired boy noticed when he regained consciousness. He could feel several tubes connected to him, as well as a heart rate monitor clamped to his left index finger. He flexed all of his fingers, noting the stiffness and mild pain in several of them.  
His head was pounding violently, and half of it was covered in bandages. With the eye that wasn't concealed, he looked around the room, finding himself in a hospital room, no sign of anyone else.

He wondered if there had been an alarm or something because the doctor walked inside just a few minutes after he woke up, and aided him in sitting up before he took the seat next to the bed. Kaneki leaned away slightly at the ominous look on the man's face, his own face mirroring the serious expression. The doctor sighed.

"Sir, you hit your head when the car hit you. Do you remember your name?"

"Kaneki Ken." The doctor nodded, proceeding to ask him several more simple questions - the city he was in, where he was studying, friends, family, etcetera... When it appeared that the teen hadn't got a concussion or amnesia, the doctor, looked deadly serious again. He glanced at the monitors surrounding the white haired young adult, which were still beeping steadily. Kaneki had tuned it out by then, the doctor's behaviour worrying him much more than the annoying noise. The doctor called a nurse in.

"Okay, Mr Kaneki, we're going to remove the bandages now. But before that, I need to tell you something." The uneasiness rose in Kaneki's stomach, making him feel slightly sick. He nodded for the doctor to continue.

"Alright... When the car hit you, do you remember anything of the crash itself?" Kaneki shook his head slowly. The doctor sighed.

"Well, the windscreen of the car smashed upon impact with another car at the scene. We are currently treating several patients for injuries inflicted by the shattered glass. You took the worst of it, we did all we could, you were in surgery for hours but..." He wished the man would get on with it, yet feared whatever he had to tell him.

"Well, just.... Please remain calm as I tell you this." He motioned to the nurse, who set to work removing the teen's bandages. The room was silent as the doctor handed him a small mirror. Kaneki raised it to his face, waiting for the doctor to finish before he looked, scared of what he might see.

"Okay, the glass hit the right side of your face... and your eye, I'm so sorry... We couldn't save the sight in your right eye." Finally, he turned to the mirror, making no sound but going very still as he saw the scarred side of his face. His hand was shaking as he saw the ruined eye and he dropped the mirror.

The doctor and the nurse had left, telling him to take his time adjusting to the loss of sight. He slumped back against the bed, moving a hand to the damaged skin on his face. He wondered what Touka and the others would think of him now, if they left... Well, he'd never exactly had a lot of friends.

He wasn't sure when it was that he fell asleep.

.....

"Touka-chan...?" He turned his face away as the girl entered the room. The nurse had given him an eyepatch, but it didn't cover the rest of the glass' damage. Touka hugged him awkwardly, as he was still lying on the bed, and sat in the chair. She looked tired, like she'd stayed up all night.

"I-I'm sorry, Kaneki. It was my fault I s-should've looked and..." She looked on the edge of tears, but Kaneki knew better than to bring it up. He smiled weakly.

"It's okay, _I_ didn't look. It's not your fault. But Touka-chan, did they tell you what happened to my..." She shook her head, wiping her eyes furiously. He sighed, turning his face to her and hearing her gasp. What he hadn't expected was for her to tackle him in another hug, telling him she'd "beat up anyone who even looked at him wrong". He laughed quietly, repeating the words he'd said earlier. He really didn't blame anyone. Except himself, of course.

By the time Touka left, the white haired boy was exhausted, and fell asleep in a matter of seconds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise Hide will be in the next chapter! Haha.... Hope you liked it.


	3. Hospital Windows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing Hide the nurse!

He couldn't stand it. Having to turn his head excessively just to read a page of one of his beloved books. Touka had bought him as many as the hospital would allow and Kaneki was grateful, though it was a sharp reminder of his injury.

Sighing he closed the book gently and placed it on his nightstand, closing his eye and shutting out the noises of the hospital. He was glad to have a private room, turned away from the window that faced the corridor. Instead, he was able to observe Tokyo's skyline with his newly limited sight. He devoted his spare time to watching the bustle of the city, studying the new billboards and the aircrafts that would occasionally pass overhead.

He did that now, grey eye travelling across the view. His fingers clenched on the white sheets of the hospital bed and he shifted in the uncomfortable fabric of the standard issue gown he was required to wear. His brain was conflicted; both wanting to escape the ward and never wanting to show his face.

He flinched violently upon hearing somebody's voice, unable to see them as they approached from his blind side. He snapped his head around, meeting the warm brown gaze and comforting smile of a nurse he hadn't yet met. He offered the other, who looked around his age, a small halfhearted smile.

"Hello, Mr Kaneki! Feeling any better today?"

"Just Kaneki." The white haired teen said and shook his head, turning his face slightly when he stopped. The nurse grinned at him nonetheless.

"Oh! I'm Nagachika Hideyoshi, by the way, but everyone calls me Hide!" His cheerful attitude was baffling, Kaneki couldn't work out how someone could remain so energetic. He knew the nurses working this shift started halfway through the night, and most were grouchy and antisocial by this time.

Hide checked his vitals and the dressing on his face, chattering away constantly. Strangely enough, Kaneki found he didn't mind it. The other nurses tended to be sullenly silent, the change was welcome as the only other person he really talked to was Touka, occasionally Nishiki if Touka made him accompany her to visit the hospitalised teen.

The friendly blond smiled all the while, a genuine smile that caught his attention in an odd way. Kaneki soon found himself smiling again, his eye following Hide's movements and no longer caring about his face. There was a sense of security radiating from the nurse, his careful touch warm and comforting.

By the time he'd left, Touka had arrived to visit him. Kaneki still felt the contagious happiness of the nurse, and the navy haired girl looked at him questioningly upon seeing the rare smile on his face.

"What is it?" He continued smiling, raising a hand to his chin.

"Oh, nothing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, it's short, but Hide's finally come in! Keep a look out for the next chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> Haha, that's my first work for this fandom, so I hope you like it!
> 
> I'll add more chapters later...


End file.
